This invention relates generally to the fabrication of a metal-framed building at a factory, said building initially having no floor; and the subsequent transportation of that building to a remote site where it is installed and provided, as desired, with what may be called a xe2x80x9cformalxe2x80x9d floor. In one embodiment, the building has a size commonly used by a homeowner as a garagexe2x80x94to provide shelter and security for one or more automobiles or other personal vehicles, as well as boats, lawn equipment, recreational vehicles, hobby equipment etc. In a large embodiment, the building may have 2,000 square feet of floor space (or more), and serve as a single-family residence or office, etc.
It is common for persons who live in urban areas to want to provide shelter and security for their personal vehicles, including automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, sports/utility vehicles, etc. It is also common for persons to want to provide equivalent shelter and security for their boats, lawn equipment, hobby equipment (e.g., woodworking tools, kilns and molds, photography labs, etc.), dog and/or horse equipment, and other things that are too bulky or considered too messy for in-house storage. To provide such shelter and security, buildings of modest sizexe2x80x94commonly called garagesxe2x80x94are often constructed as separate buildings adjacent their houses. Many garages are built a short distance from a house at about the same time that a house is being built. But there are also instances in which either time, money, personal preference or nature may dictate that a garage be built at a later time. For example, after a tornado has destroyed a person""s house and all outbuildings, the first priority will likely be to move a mobile home onto the propertyxe2x80x94to provide immediate shelter for people, pets and personal property. Later, a garage may be needed to provide shelter for other things, including building materials and tools, while general rebuilding is taking place.
When plenty of building time is available, a garage may be built in the same manner that many houses are built, i.e., one board at a timexe2x80x94from the ground up. However, when time is of the essence, it is known that there are shortcuts that can be taken by using factory-built modulesxe2x80x94using power equipment, jigs and fixtures, warehoused supplies, etc. (A popular thing for many home builders involves the use of prefabricated roof trusses, each of which is built in a factory to specifications that are established by the builder, and each of which is trucked as a unit to a building site.) But so far as is known, factory processes have not been adapted to build complete garages that can be built and set up with the same speed of so-called manufactured housing. It is an object of this invention to adapt the good features of mass-production and standardized manufacturing techniques to the creation of strong, attractive and economical garages and other stand-alone buildings of a similar size.
In another embodiment, a temporary building may be set up on a street, parking lot or other improved surface, for the purpose of providing shelter for governmental or relief agencies (e.g., the Red Cross), while relief work is being conducted after a major storm or the like. Another example of temporary use of a xe2x80x9chard-sidexe2x80x9d building is for a command center for police and communications workers, when an annual event such as a fair is held on an annual basis at the same location, but the building would interfere with regular use of the terrain if it were left in place year-round. If a larger structure is desired, two or more modules may be built in a factory and then connected together at a site that has been prepared for a residence, church building, or office. Multi-story buildings may also be built with this technique. The only critical requirement is that the final construction site must be accessible by road, because a major part of the invention involves the transportation of what may be called building xe2x80x9cshellsxe2x80x9d over roads that lead to the final construction sites.
Still another object is to shorten the time from start to completion for a steel-framed building that can be built in a desired one of several possible sizes.